The Senate Committee on National Cohesion, Equal Opportunity, and Regional Integration has raised alarm over the ethnic imbalance in the staffing of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), citing a breach of constitutional provisions on equitable employment in public institutions.
Appearing before the committee, the KNBS Director General, Dr Macdonald George Obudho was hard pressed to explain why the said communities also dominated the latest recruitment carried out by the bureau against the provided guidelines in the 2010 constitution on equal opportunities of employment in state agencies.
The Senate National Cohesion, Equal Opportunity and Regional Integration has raised concerns over the recent trend of a number of state agencies employing members from a few ethnic groups in the country.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is the latest institution to be queried over the ethnic composition concerns.
The Statistics body led by the Director General Dr Macdonald George Obudho was at pains to explain why the institution hired 64 percent of its employees from only 5 communities.
The bureau has 506 staff members of this 102 are Kikuyus, 84 Luo, Luhya 60, Kamba 58 and 50 Kalenjins totalling to 354 employees of the institution.
The latest recruitment by the bureau also saw the said 5 communities bag an additional 42.1 percent of the positions advertised by the institution.
Further Senator Mohammed Chute led committee established that the bureau also has 6 employees who are passed the retirement age of 60 with the youngest at 22 year.
Members pointed out that there are a number of youth with the relevant qualifications to work at the institution yet are not accorded such opportunities.
The Committee directed the DG to present additional documents on suppliers providing services to the institutions and a solution to diversify problem at the bureau.